Fans reminisce on 20 years of Simpsons

Wednesday

Jul 25, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 25, 2007 at 1:21 PM

Now long-time fans recall what made the iconic show such a success.

By April Dembosky

There are some days when Matt Reyes watches the Simpsons for hours on end. A loyal viewer for 16 years, the manager of New England Comics in Harvard Square often keeps the DVDs running in the store throughout his shift.

He has no problem listing the virtues of the family that, while frozen in animated time, has learned to age with its fan base over the 20 years its been on the air.

“It was multigenerational right from the beginning,” Reyes, 35, said. “There were parents who liked the Simpsons and now their kids like it.”

The longevity of the show has seemingly produced more hard core fans and self-proclaimed experts, than any other prime time sitcom. The humor, the writing, the universal themes, they say, have kept the show fresh and funny into the 21st century. And not just to nostalgic fans who take pride in their homemade VHS tapes from when the family first appeared on the Tracy Ullman show in 1987, but also to today’s teens who scarf up DVD reruns as enthusiastically as their predecessors.

Part of the Simpsons’ cross-generational appeal is the fact that no character has had a birthday in two decades. Bart is still in the 4th grade, Lisa is still 8, and Maggie is the perennial toddler. Unlike the Cosby kids or the Olsen twins, the Simpsons won’t grow out of their characters or spoil their fictional image in the tabloids. And they can’t alienate new viewers with dated perms or leg warmers.

“If a teenager watches a show from the 70s or 80s, they’re distracted by the hair or clothing and miss what was meant to be funny,” said Aeon Skoble, a philosophy professor at Bridgewater State College and co-editor of The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh of Homer. He compares the Simpsons to the recent DVD release of the signature 1980s show, Miami Vice.

“If you’re 14 and you go watch those episodes, the clothes, the music, you wouldn’t be able to escape the sensation that you’re looking at some museum piece, even if you did appreciate the acting,” he said. “But kids watching old episodes of the Simpsons don’t get that. To make fun of (Ned) Flanders’ religious fundamentalism is not tied to a particular decade.”

After so many years, the Simpsons writers make sure to balance universal, timeless themes like marriage, family and work, with topical issues such as the dot com boom and reality television.

“They continue to pick up on new things to make fun of as society changes,” Skoble said. “Just this past season, they did an episode where Marge gets involved in the online role-playing world.”

More than anything, fans say, it’s the show’s unique humor that keeps them tuning in Sunday after Sunday.

“It operates on so many different levels,” Skoble said. “Both at the simplest surface level, farce, but also at the high brow level of satire and allusion. The more you pay attention, the funnier it is.”

This means there’s something funny for all ages.

“It’s written so the kids are laughing at one thing, but then the adults are also laughing at the other jokes going over the kids’ heads,” Reyes said

“It’s funny, you go back and watch old episodes and think, ëoh, wait, I get that one now,’” Reyes said.

The jokes have crossed more lines than just age. Few themes, groups, or political parties have escaped parody.

“It’s an equal opportunity offender,” Skoble said, remembering episodes that mocked both Democrats and Republicans, organized religion and new age secularism.

“They’ve tackled everything from religion to homosexuality to environmental issues,” said Scott Sliney, co-owner of Baron’s Collectibles in East Bridgewater. “You name it, they’ve gone after it.”

Some of the ribbing has inspired more than just a few laughs.

Sliney, who said he’s 36 going on 12, recalls an episode where Homer refuses to go to church anymore and dismisses all religions. Then, when his house suddenly burns down, “a Christian, a Hindu, a Jewish clown, and a snake charmer all save him,” he remembered.

At the time Sliney first watched that epidose, he was in his early 20s, doubting his own religious faith and feeling critical of others’ beliefs. While he wouldn’t go so far as to say the show shaped his political and spiritual views, he said, “it made me think, maybe I shouldn’t pre-judge other religions.”

Especially from his adult perspective, Reyes draws more from the show than just laughs.

“I found that some of the things are designed to be a bit more moving,” he said. “As a younger viewer, you think ëoh, that wasn’t funny.’ But now, I catch more of the family stuff, the adult stuff.”

He remembers planning to have children with his girlfriend at the time everyone on the show was trying to get Maggie to say her first word.

“When no one’s in the room, she pops her pacifier out and said ëDaddy,’” Reyes said. “And no one heard it.”

Reyes and his girlfriend broke up before they started a family, but now, 14 years later, they’ve gotten back together.

This reminds Reyes of another touching episode where Homer eats a hallucinogenic chili pepper and launches a search for his ësoul mate,’ who he believes is not Marge. At the end of Homer’s odyssey, husband and wife realize they were always meant to be.

“It’s simpleton stuff, but very sweet,” Reyes said. “They are definitely made for each other.”

The power to keep people tied to the series, to keep people thinking, and to keep them laughing, Reyes believes, has earned the series a special place in history.

“I think it’s going to go down as the most omnipresent television series of all time.”

April Dembosky of The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.) may be reached at adembosky@ledger.com.

7-Elevens transformed to Kwik-E-Marts

Ever wonder what it would be like to wander into a Kwik-E-Mart, the famed convenience store of Springfield? For the month leading up to the Simpsons movie release, fans could put themselves in Homer Simpsonís shoes and order their own Squishee and pink-frosted donut.

But South Shore fans were left out of the craze when 7-Eleven stores transformed a dozen of its locations around the country - none in Massachusetts - into caricatures of the beloved Kwik-E Mart, bringing the fictional store to life. They recreated Springfield products like KrustyO's cereal and the red and yellow-canned Buzz Cola. Duff Beer was left stranded in TV land.

Stores were made over in 12 cities in California, Florida, Maryland, Washington, New York, Nevada, Colorado, Texas, and Illinois.

"My best friend from high school came home from Chicago for a job interview," Scott Sliney of Taunton said. "I made him bring me some Buzz Cola."

- April Dembosky

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